The Most Effective Time of Day for Lawn Watering

February 4, 2016

In semi-arid climates such as Colorado where watering restrictions are often in effect, people want to know how to get the most out of lawn watering. Watering at the optimal time can reduce evaporation, prevent fungus growth, and ensure your lawn will be its greenest and healthiest.

Common Misconceptions:

Many make the mistake of watering at night thinking the cool air causes the least evaporation and allows the water to soak into soil more deeply. It’s true that evaporation is minimal after sundown but cool air allows the grass to stay damp for an extended period of time and is a breeding ground for disease and fungus. In Denver, where humidity rarely gets above 10%, the risk is lower than somewhere like Florida, where humidity is regularly 50% after dark, but nighttime watering is still detrimental to the health of your lawn.

Some also believe that watering during the afternoon keeps grass from burning. Nothing could be further from the truth. Watering in the heat of the day is simply a waste of water. On especially hot days, water evaporates almost as soon as it hits the lawn. Soil also hardens in the afternoon sun so moisture absorption is at its lowest.

The ideal time to water your lawn is about an hour before sunrise. This gives water an ample amount of time to soak into the ground, but leaves blades of grass damp for a shorter amount of time than watering at night which prevents fungus from growing. The damp night air also softens the soil so that water can soak in more easily. The deeper the water soaks in, the more stable and healthier the grass roots will be.

In June the sun rises at around 5:30 in the morning so watering about 4:00 or 4:30 is ideal. There are hose timers available at most hardware stores or plant nurseries. For those of us who aren’t morning people and will be cranky the rest of the day if we are dragging a hose around in the dark at 4 AM, a sprinkler system may be the way to go. One of our expert sprinkler technicians can come out and help you layout a plan for the best places to put sprinkler heads and also the best kind of sprinklers to get for your particular lawn set up. A sprinkler system can be set to start at any time in the morning and water certain zones for a set amount of time. This is also advantageous because it is better to water the same zone multiple times and you can do this without having to move the hose. For instance if you want to water each zone for 10 minutes it is better to split it up, watering twice for 5 minutes. This allows the water to soak into the ground, preventing runoff.

Using these best practices when watering will make your lush, green lawn the envy of the neighborhood! At Water Solutions Company, we have over two decades of experience installing sprinklers in the Denver Metro area. You can be confident in our desire to provide a quality service and truly make our customers happy. Give us a call today for a free estimate for sprinkler installation and other sprinkler and landscaping services in the Denver Metro areas.